Trafalgar Square will today rock to a concert starring Alesha Dixon and Pixie Lott at the launch this year's Poppy Appeal.

The pair, who are the faces of the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal 2012, will star at the free event at 12 noon marking
the start of the Legion's £42 million fundraising drive.

The concert will also feature The Military
Wives Choir and James Fox, star of the West End musical Let It Be, who will
sing the official Poppy Appeal 2012 single Landlocked.

Dixon, a Britain's Got Talent judge and
former Strictly Come Dancing winner, whose hits include The Boy Does Nothing,
will perform with The Corps of Drums of the 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards and
1st Battalion Irish Guards.

Lott, whose number one hit singles include
It's All About Tonight, will appear alongside trumpeters from the Band of the
Grenadier Guards.

The appeal's £42 million target is up on
the record £40 million raised last year.

People wishing to donate can do so at any
time through the internet or by text.

Poppies will go on sale from Saturday
until November 11, at locations across the country including train and Tube
stations and shopping centres.

The act of observing a two-minute silence
each year on November 11 began in 1919, following the Armistice agreement
between the Allies and Germany at 11am on November 11, 1918, the end of the
First World War.

The Royal British Legion spends £1.7
million a week on care and support for military families, including grants,
employment advice and funding, emotional support, tribunal and inquest advice,
care homes and family breaks.

Its work includes help for service
personnel returning from Afghanistan as well as those from past conflicts.

The Legion is giving £50 million over 10
years to support the recovery of wounded, injured and sick service men and
women.